Did CNN Stage This Pro-Muslim Protest in London?

The fact that anyone would have to question whether or not CNN literally staged fake news on a grand scale says quite a bit about the network’s previous volume of questionable journalism.

Yet, here we are.

Video has been circulating online which purports to show CNN International and reporter Becky Anderson directing Muslim protesters with signs denouncing terrorism and supporting London police to stand behind her during a live report.

Considering flowers and signs were brought in to enhance the shot, as well as the direction from producers instructing people where to stand, seems to suggest it was not a spontaneous moment.

A video uploaded online showed CNN correspondent Becky Anderson preparing to narrate video of a group of Muslims holding up signs in solidarity with the victims of the attacks.

Before Anderson begins her reporting, the demonstrators are seen being guided by police into a spot together so that the camera can frame the shot in an area that had been blocked off by police.

The video was uploaded to YouTube with the title, “CNN staging the narrative before making report, they are truly Fake News!”

It was shared on Twitter by the British conservative news personality Katie Hopkins, who said the video showed CNN “scripting a narrative. Right before your eyes.”

The obvious attempt here is to create a pro-Muslim angle by showing a group of protesters denouncing the terrorist attacks, thus separating the radical Islamist extremists from every day members of the religion.

But was it real?

CNN has since responded to the controversy, saying the protesters were already in the area and were simply being brought in to be filmed behind police lines.

“This story is nonsense. The group of demonstrators that was at the police cordon was being allowed through by officers so they could show their signs to the gathered media. The CNN crew along with other media present simply filmed them doing so.”

The obvious question is, why would anyone move them so they could show their signs in the first place? Why would this be necessary?

Sure, this type of thing happens in sports where fans don’t start cheering until someone gives them the signal, but A) That’s sports, and B) They don’t bring them down to the field and pretend they’re playing in the game.

If there was indeed a spontaneous protest of Muslims standing up against terorrism, whether it was a few feet down the street or blocks away, why not simply film them where they were congregating? CNN doesn’t have enough in the budget for portable, mobile cameras?

About the AuthorRusty Weiss

Rusty Weiss is a freelance journalist focusing on the conservative movement and its political agenda. He has been writing conservatively charged articles for several years in the upstate New York area, and his writings have appeared in the Daily Caller, American Thinker, FoxNews.com, Big Government, the Times Union, and the Troy Record. He is also Editor of one of the top conservative blogs of 2012, the Mental Recession.